Dick Advocaat

League Cup (1998-99)

League Championship (1998-99)

Scottish Cup (1998-99)

Dick Advocaat had an outstanding track record as a coach of vast experience before coming to Ibrox on July 1 1998 as Walter Smith's replacement.

Advocaat was in charge of Holland in the 1994 World Cup Finals in America, where the Dutch squad reached the quarter-finals before losing 3-2 to the eventual trophy winners Brazil.

He also led P.S.V. Eindhoven to a League and Cup Double in 1996.

Advocaat, who was born in The Hague on September 27, 1947, was considered a tough opponent during his playing days. A powerful midfielder, he made his debut for ADO when he was 19 and stayed at the club for five years.

Later he played for Den Haag, JC Roda and V.V.V. in Holland before joining Chicago Sting in the North American Soccer League in the late Seventies.

He returned to Holland in 1980 with Sparta Rotterdam, had a brief spell with Berchem Sport in Belgium and ended his playing career at Utrecht in 1984.

It was while he was at Utrecht that Advocaat began the move to coaching, taking charge of local amateur side D.V.S.P.

He quickly established a reputation as a disciplinarian, known for his meticulous attention to detail, and was appointed assistant to the Dutch national coach Rinus Michels in 1984.

Three years later Advocaat returned to club football as coach of Haarlem where one of the young players was Arthur Numan, then a left wing. It was Advocaat who persuaded Numan that his future lay in defence.

Despite his club commitments, Advocaat still played a part in the preparation of the Dutch team which won the 1988 European Championship.

A year later, having guided Haarlem to promotion into the Dutch First Division, Advocaat moved to S.V.V. based near Rotterdam. There he teamed up with Wim Jansen, who was later to take over at Celtic. Jansen was technical director and Advocaat was head coach and S.V.V. - who later merged with Dordrecht - won promotion to the top division.

By 1992 Advocaat was in charge of the Dutch national team, succeeding Leo Beenhakker as coach. A few months after the World Cup, Advocaat was offered the hot seat at P.S.V. who were languishing in the shadow of rivals Ajax.

He restructured the squad - which included the signing of Arthur Numan - and restored the club's fortunes.

Advocaat favours a 4-4-2 formation and believes in playing a patient passing game.

Since his arrival at Ibrox, Rangers have undergone a revolution in their playing staff. Eight new players were signed in the Summer, including the transfer of Numan from P.S.V.

Among the other big buys were Giovanni van Bronckhorst from Feyenoord, Andrei Kanchelskis from Fiorentina and Scotland captain Colin Hendry from Blackburn.

These were followed by French World Cup striker Stephane Guivarc'h from Newcastle in November.

Advocaat has a truly international pool to choose from with players representing 15 countries and his passion for the game is legendary.

Rangers chaiman David Murray has said of him: "He phones me at all times of the day or night to discuss football.

"Once, as I was about to climb into bed, the phone rang at midnight and Dick started telling me about some young player who had caught his eye on video."

Advocaat's challenge is to rebuild a new team and lay the foundations for further success, not just at home but also in Europe.

He won his first trophy as Rangers manager with the League Cup Final victory over St Johnstone in November and added two further pieces of silverware, the Scottish Cup and the League Championship trophy, to complete a gloriuos treble in his first season on charge.

He has moulded a side that is full of talent and a squad with the strength to cope with a long hard season.

With a domestic treble behind him Advocaat aims now for success on the European front, and in his bid to take Rangers to the next level he added Claudio Reyna, Neil McCann, Michael Mols and Dariusz Adamczuk to his squad.